Birthday

Birthday

You were born on the cusp

of the earth's yearly turning,

that bitter twist

toward cold and death.

We call it fall,

but you lifted us up

with your feverish excitement

and passion for truth.

Your seasons were marked

with love and devotion.

But you -

always searching, never finding,

unable to bear

the full fire in your mind -

found comfort at last

in arms cold as ice.

Winter, your womb

at the end.

In memoriam -J.D.D. September 1, 1978-January 31, 2006